Tunku Varadarajan has an interview with a recent heroine of September 11.
“What I Miss Is The Anger–And The Clarity”
Tunku Varadarajan has an interview with a recent heroine of September 11.
First Amendment Confusion
I think that the latest William Bennett kerfuffle is a tempest in a teapot, but his response irritates me a little:
A thought experiment about public policy, on national radio, should not have received the condemnations it has. Anyone paying attention to this debate should be offended by those who have selectively quoted me, distorted my meaning, and taken out of context the dialogue I engaged in this week. Such distortions from ‘leaders’ of organizations and parties is a disgrace not only to the organizations and institutions they serve, but to the First Amendment.
Sorry, but this has nothing to do with the First Amendment. I get just as annoyed when people on the so-called right wrap themselves in the First Amendment as a rhetorical barrier against criticism as I do when people on the left do.
There is nothing in the First Amendment that protects anyone from having their speech criticized. Such criticism is itself protected by the First Amendment. All that the amendment says is that “Congress shall pass no law…” Unless there was a legislative move afoot today to outlaw Bill Bennett from putting his foot in his mouth of which I was previously unaware, I don’t know to what he’s referring here.
Bad Avian Flu News
It’s resistant to Tamiflu.
Calming Katrina
It just occurred to me that an iceberg placed in front of a hurricane could take the energy out of it. I just did a quick google, and came up with this guy, who thought it up ten years ago, but it’s not quantified in any way.
I don’t know how sensitive storms are to ocean surface temps, so you’d have to figure out how much you needed to lower the temperature, and over how wide an area, to see if it was in any way feasible. But I’d have to think that an iceberg in the tropics could do some pretty good cooling over a pretty broad area. Of course, getting it into position quickly could be a challenge. And around here, and in the Bahamas, the water is so shallow it would probably run aground.
Conflict
It’s a little frustrating that this conference and this one are both occurring on the same weekend, four hundred miles apart.
How Good A Rider Was She?
When I read this story about a woman apparently killed on her motorcycle up in Sonoma County on the coast highway, I wondered how it happened, and if she might be alive today had she known about this.
Of course, she may also have been a good rider, and just encountered oncoming traffic in her lane, or a slick spot in the road. We may never know.
From Ape To Man
Carl Zimmer has an interesting analogy for those who still don’t understand evolution, and instead prefer to jump from “gap” to “gap.”
Speaking Of John Roberts’ Age
Is he the last Chief Justice the nation will ever have? He seems to be in good health, so I think that it’s possible that he’ll live for many decades, perhaps centuries.
Speaking Of John Roberts’ Age
Is he the last Chief Justice the nation will ever have? He seems to be in good health, so I think that it’s possible that he’ll live for many decades, perhaps centuries.